Horror Game Reviews: Alien Isolation

The game which I will be reviewing today comes from a franchise that I absolutely love for the most part (I'm sure you can figure out which one from the title/premise, if not I'm talking about Alien/Aliens), it's called Alien Isolation. This game is a first person horror/survival game that was released back in October of 2014. It was developed by Creative Assembly and then published by surprisingly by Sega, which I wouldn't have ever guessed would make a game like this considering they haven't done many horror titles in the past. This game was released for pretty much all current platforms, including the PS4, XB1, Xbox 360, PS3 and of course the PC. 

This game is set to take place 15 years after the events that occurred in the 1979 Alien film. It is centered around our main character Amanda Ripley, the daughter of the protagonist Ellen Ripley from Alien, and her efforts in investigating exactly what happened to her mother and why she has suddenly disappeared. This game does an amazing job at utilizing its source material, and lives up to exactly what I would expect and want from an Alien based video game. 

The game starts out with our main character being approached by an android named Christopher Samuels, who hails from the Weyland Yutani Corporation. He comes bearing information regarding the flight recorder from the Nostromo which was recently found by another Weyland Yutani company ship, and is now being held at a remote space station called Sevastopol. Samuels then offers her a spot on their retrieval team who has been tasked to go get it, allowing her to get some form of closure in regards to her mother. 

However, upon arriving at the space station, the team finds that it has become damaged and that communications have went offline. The group then proceeds to try and spacewalk their way into the station, only for debris to sever their lines leading to Ripley getting separated from the rest of the group, forced to enter the station on her own. After entering the station, she begins seeking help and quickly finds a survivor named Axel. He begins telling her of how the station has basically become an out of control nightmare due to a monster lurking throughout the ship. Very shortly after striking up a deal for a way off the station, Axel is killed by said monster, who of course is actually a Xenomorph. 

It is explained that a member of the other Weyland Yutani ship which found the flight recorder also stumbled across the alien eggs inside the derelict ship which the crew of the Nostromo found. They were attacked by a facehugger, and a man named Marlow unfortunately had his wife become the parasites host. By him bringing his wife back to the station for medical treatment, he inadvertently also brought along the alien which caused all of the chaos and paranoia present onboard the station. 

Now, the narrative of the game as you can probably tell is a fairly simple one that doesn't do anything innovative. Your goal with each mission of the game is to get from point A to point B, basically just spending the majority of the game attempting to escape the space station. However, the plot of the game does include some amazing worldbuilding using audio and videologs which you can collect through the game showing the last bit of time where the crew was actually sane and alive. It also contains plenty of interesting and appealing visuals throughout, and definitely haves you feel that you're in the Alien universe. 

I won't go into the plot too much more since I don't wanna spoil it for you all. In my honest opinion, the story itself of Alien Isolation isn't an amazing breathtaking experience, and I think the big twist at the end was a little predictable. However, it does tell an overall interesting story at the very least that keeps you engaged, and fits in well within the Alien franchise. I honestly wouldn't mind if they took it and made it into a canonical part of the actual Alien franchise. I think using the daughter of Ellen Ripley for our main character allowed us to have an intriguing and relatable protagonist who fit in perfectly within the series, and although some people were put off by the idea, I'd be shocked if they didn't end up liking her after playing the game. 

While there is a small element of combat within this game, it definitely sticks with its survival aspect throughout most of the game. Most of everything you find at your disposal weapon wise is pretty ineffective, and you'll find that stealth is your best and smartest option to make it through the game. You could take your melee weapon and sneak up on an enemy to bludgeon them, however, what are you going to do about the other combatants that are lingering nearby with firearms? In the end, you'll usually find yourself heading into a restart checkpoint screen if you try going this route too often. 

Going from cover to cover and using your wits to survive is the smarter option. You'll be rewiring certain things in your environment to act as a distraction for you to escape from enemies, as well as hiding in the shadows and sliding into vents. There's also the crafting system which proves to be quite useful in not only keeping you alive, but keeping your enemies eyes off you. Some of the things which you can craft are simple items such as medkits and molotov cocktails. Then there are your more complicated pieces of equipment such as an EMP mine, noisemaker, and a multitude of grenades. 

You can only carry a small amount of each thing, and you need to be very smart when deciding on the perfect time to use the items. If you use it at the wrong moment, things can go downhill fast. The game doesn't hold your hand and tell you when, and you're left to experiment and figure it out yourself. This can be somewhat nerve wracking, as I felt a few moments of anxiety just trying to decide if it's worth it or not since I might be attracting a group of insane humans or androids to me, or even worse, an acid blooded killing machine. 

Speaking of enemies, lets go over what you're actually up against in this game, as the Alien isn't your only problem. First off, you have the crazed, paranoid human beings who are left alive on the station. They all are in the camp of shoot first, then shoot later and have no intention of being peaceful. The positive to this is that they're the most easy to deal with within the game, though don't expect the game to turn into your typical first person shooter either. Even with the inclusion of allied survivors, the game never lets you feel like you're in control and able to take on the world when fighting against other human characters. You'll find a small amount of firearms and ammo in the game, but combat again is such a lethal part to the game avoiding it as much as possible is your best bet. There will be times though where in desperation you'll probably find yourself having to shoot some people to stay alive. 

The unexpected and more pleasant surprise of an enemy within the game are the synthetic androids known as the Working Joes. Now, androids have become a staple of the Alien franchise at this point in time, and more often than not they've shown to be not trustworthy in most of the films at least. The Working Joes of this game are like the cheap discount version of Ash or Bishop, and honestly have a much more intimidating presence and appearance. Especially with their glowing orange/red eyes. 

They're slower and a lot more clumsy than the human based enemies, but they have far more endurance and strength to them and prove to be more deadly. For a very creepy, cinematic experience try meleeing one of them head to head. That will give you an idea of how dangerous these things can be. Imagine having a big group of these nightmarish mannequin like androids chasing you down a hallway shouting friendly sayings at you with the occasional threat mixed in all of a sudden. It's a wonderfully interesting enemy, one which I definitely was happy to find in the game. 

And, finally but certainly not least in anyway is the main star of this horror title, the Xenomorph. Though, pretty much everyone in the game only seems to refer to it as the "Creature", something that I should have expected since the term Xenomorph was really only introduced in Aliens. Now, this isn't the first game where we have had this monster as an enemy, however, it's been done quite differently this time around since we're only having to face off against one of these aliens. It treats it just like the first film did, in that nothing you do can come close to stopping it. Even after you acquire a flamethrower, the best that you can possibly hope for is scaring it off for a short period of time and that's it. All you can do is try to run and escape from this perfect killing machine. 

After the Xenomorph has been shown to the player, it stays as a constant threat to you throughout the rest of the campaign. You'll realize as well that it works best with how they have it set up, where it's more scary when it's not actually shown on screen. You'll constantly hear noises of things moving in your environment, and have a never ending feeling of paranoia of your actions attracting it straight to you with its murderous intentions. If you move too quickly down a hallway, it may hear your footsteps and find you. If you start a fight with survivors with gunshots or loud noises, it's going to be coming with ill intention. Even tripping an alarm will have it slithering its way behind you in no time. Or, maybe it won't which is where the paranoia really comes in. The games AI is unpredictable, and that's what makes it one of the most effective, scary horror titles to date.  

That unpredictable element can also be used to your advantage however, as you can do certain actions to clear out your other enemies by using the Alien as a weapon in a way. Say you run into a group of crazed survivors that are in your way, all you have to do is throw a noisemaker at their feet and find a small area to hide in and watch as the carnage and chaos unfolds as the creature finds its way to them and makes a path for you. It's one of the most entertaining and wonderful aspects of the game, and although there aren't really many scripted events in the game, you always get the feeling that you can create a scripted event with moments like that being included in the game. 

But, that isn't to say that it always works in your favor by any means. It can be extremely frightening at times, as well as frustrating to the player. Sometimes there's really no way to escape and stay alive if you've attracted the Xenomorph to you. You'll be on the lookout for it with no idea where it's going to come from, only to find it drop down in front of you as you're running and bite through your skull. There is no escape in an instance like this. Trying to avoid and wait for this stalking beast to leave can be tense, especially when it has no real pattern to it's movement and can never actually be fully outrun. Even if you escape it for a short while, it seems like the alien is constantly within a set distance of your character ready to find you at any moment. These sorts of elements can lead to some frustrating times over just feeling scared and spooked out. 

Another element which can be somewhat frustrating within the game is the save system, though I think it fits quite well with the game and creates a sense of fulfillment once you actually get a save and recorded your progress. The save system requires you to find specific checkpoints that are strewn about the space station, and if you can't find one then you're bound to lose some progress at least once or twice. These save systems actually include a sense of fear on it's own, as it takes several seconds for the game to actually save and you're still at risk at having an enemy get you before it finishes. It even has a feature which alerts you to a enemy that is incoming to your location, ramping up the tension even more. Everything that you do in this game which exposes you and brings you out of the shadows has an element of risk to it, and I think it is quite refreshing. It's very reminiscent of the old style of horror/survival games which I love. 

The overall atmosphere of this game is nothing short of impressive with how it's designed, with a very dark and oppressive feeling hanging over you the entire time. Everything within the game feels genuine to how the universe was set up in the original film and Alien universe. The lighting is perfect throughout the game, especially when any of the sections of the game involving being outside in space. The Xenomorph's animations are done quite well, and watching it slither out of a hole in the wall, hearing it walk around corridors while everything else is silent only to find itself frustrated that it lost its prey and beings screeching ever so loudly. It evokes a sense of fear and dread with or without it's presence being shown, and it makes for such an excellent part of the atmosphere itself. There's also a great sound design behind the game, and when you add all of this together we get a beautiful, terrifying horror game. 

 

While Alien Isolation can make you feel frustrated at times, it is nearly a perfect experience within the horror/survival genre of gaming. The Xenomorph has finally been brought back to being a scary, horrifying monster which hasn't been done in over 20 years now and is so refreshing to see. The atmosphere of the game is so well done, and you'll feel it with every step that you take within the game. While you only get around 10-12 hours of gameplay within the campaign, it's some of the best horror gaming that you can get in these days. I'd highly recommend this one for any fans of the franchise or anyone just interested in an excellent entry in the genres. 

Thanks for checking out my review! Hope you've enjoyed it!